This was the football equivalent of a long meeting that could have been an email. Panama showed up with energy and good intentions, Croatia showed up with one moment of quality, and the scoreboard rewarded the side that remembered to actually shoot.

Ante Budimir broke the spell in the 54th minute, which was thoughtful of him because the first half was testing everyone's patience and their phone batteries. After that, the game settled into the comfortable rhythm of a team protecting a lead and a team running into the same wall.

No red cards, no VAR drama, no chaos. Just a tidy, professional 1-0 that the neutrals will forget by breakfast and the Croatian bench will happily take to the bank. Respectable. Watchable. Forgettable.